Monday, March 5, 2012

I am to start on half of the dose that I was taking 5 weeks ago. My vitamin D levels are low, so I am to supplement. I no longer am taking pre-natal vitamins and take a Flinstone vitamin 4-5 times weekly. I hope the medication kicks in quick as I have been dragging ass the last few weeks. It is amazing the differences when my levels fluctuate. I am glad to be seeing a specialist.

As for surrogacy and the possibility of a second journey......it depends on the moment. Sometimes, I feel like I am all done being pregnant, especially with the c-section I had to have. But, then there are days/moments of strong desire to have 1 more experience with a deserving family. I am going to be 37 this coming June, so need to make a decision in the next year or 2 if I decide to move forward with a second journey. Agencies tend to not accept women over 40. I keep telling myself I will give myself till summer and see how I feel. There is so much stuff to get done around here on the farm and want to feel useful around here this year. If I decide to move forward with a second journey, I will start paperwork later this year. We will see how my mind continues to process/evolve/think about future possibilities....

I continue to read a few select surrogacy blogs and enjoy hearing about other stories along the journey of surrogacy. So many feelings about different kinds of experience - thanks for sharing!

Friday, March 2, 2012

I went for my endocrinologist appt. yesterday. He stated my thyroid in my neck was larger than normal and asked a bunch of questions. I have been feeling sluggish lately. At my 2 week post partum appt, I had lost 30 pounds in 2 weeks and maintained that weight to my 6 week followup. However, the TSH numbers were extremely low signifying that I was taking too much medication. It is often required to take more thyroid medication during pregnancy since the baby is taking some from you. I guess it is common to need medication increases during pregnancy, then decreases after. My OB physician referred me to the endocrinologist then I had to wait several weeks to see. The endo. doctor advised me to stop taking all thyroid medication until I saw him and have blood work done. I discontinued the medication and in a matter of 4 weeks, I gained back 11 pounds! I thought I had put on weight again, but was surprised to see how much in a short amount of time. What significant, drastic changes in short amounts of time! I had blood work done after the appt. and am supposed to wait for a call from the doctor office to discuss the treatment plan. I will be shocked if he does not put me on some dose of medication. We will see!

My family

Welcome to my surrogacy blog!

Hi. My name is Carla. I am married to Brian. We have been married almost 10 years. We had 3 children in 2.5 years: Gareth (6-06), Zane (9-07), and Iris (1-09). Brian works as a web programmer. I used to be a social worker for people with developmental disabilities, but now stay home with our children.

In June 2009, we moved from a nice, cookie cutter subdivision to a humble, little, farm house, on 10 acres, in rural east central Illinois. We are interested in living a simpler life moving towards self sufficiency. We are interested in homesteading, gardening, beekeeping, and atheism/secular humanism/skepticism. I am a crafter of all sorts of creations - love to sew and quilt, and have many other interests, including weaving, pottery, painting, scrapbooking, among other things.

Our family feels complete - we are very done having babies for ourselves! My husband had a vasectomy to ensure that we would not be surprised with another baby.

I started thinking about becoming a gestational surrogate during my second pregnancy. The feelings I had did not fade, so here we are now. We were lucky enough to conceive quickly/naturally and have "easy" pregnancies. I have friends and have read about many people that have fertility issues and it does not come so easily for them. It saddens me that they can not fulfill their dreams. I was able to help a couple complete their family, delivering a baby girl, in December 2011. I am now on my second and final journey, helping 2 men from Argentina become daddies, with additional help from an egg donor.

Feel free to ask any questions. I tend to be an open book as long as there is genuine, sincere, respectful interest.